Page 75 of Totally Fanatic

“You’re sure it’s okay?”

“That your boyfriend brings his friends to the cafe?”

“Yeah?”

“Of course it is. He’s always welcome. They all are.”

“I just thought with what happened before, maybe you wouldn’t want the fuss. Reporters might follow, seeing as they are coming off a huge win against the OG’s.”

She shakes her head. “I’ll never let you fire yourself again. It was so hard being here without you. I guess, as long as the reporters aren’t dicks, they can come in, too.”

Less than five minutes pass and Tim pushes through the cafe door, Calvin, Pat, Ryan and Duckie with him.

“Hey, I heard my biggest fan, Chester, is in here today,” Tim says, and Chester’s eyes go so wide as the smile spreads across his face.

He raises his arm, holding what’s left of his candy stick, bouncing in his seat and sending sugar and candies flying. I grab another stick from the display and head out from behind the counter.

“Tim, this is Chester,” I say, placing the new stick down on the table.

“Wow, you really came,” Chester says, and Tim sits in the open chair at their table and looks over at me.

“Well, I had to. Lion said you were my biggest fan. I couldn’t miss out on meeting you.”

“I’ve watched all your games. I watch them on the computer. Granny said she’ll try to get me tickets for my birthday. You play Animal Control on the same day I turn seven.”

“That’s exciting, when is that?” Tim asks.

“This Saturday.”

I catch his granny’s smile faltering. The games have been sold out for months, if she doesn’t already have tickets, she’s got a slim chance of getting them now. I leave them to chat and pop behind the counter where Mary Beth is taking Duckie’s order.

I lean in and whisper, “Hey, you don’t mind if you miss Saturday’s game, do you?” I ask her, and she raises one eyebrow at me.

“Why, you got a better offer than your best friend?”

“Actually, I’m going to give the tickets to Chester for his birthday.”

“But then you’ll miss the game, too.”

“I know, but it’s cool. Tim will understand. I’ll watch it online.”

“I’ll come over and we can grab takeout and watch in our pajamas with the boys.”

“Perfect. Sounds like a plan.”

I rush out the back to grab my bag and pull out the envelope where I keep the stack of tickets I was given for the season. I’ll still have Friday’s game and Sunday’s game to go watch in person, missing one game so that Chester can have his perfect day is worth breaking the streak.

I grab the two tickets for Saturday out and then stop. I can’t just hand them over like this, that’s not a very special birthday present. I look around. Mary Beth’s back room is full of random stuff she uses to theme out the cafe for special occasions like Christmas and Easter, and I grab the box of Christmas stuff and rifle through until I spot something I can use. Red balloons, yes! I roll up the tickets and slide them through the opening and then grab the tube of gold glitter and sprinkle some of that in, too, before blowing up the balloon just enough so that it doesn’t pop, and tying off the end.

“I heard someone is having a birthday this weekend,” I say, coming out from the back, holding up the balloon.

“Me. I am,” Chester calls, and Tim leans back in his chair, smiling my way.

“Well, Chester, your granny wanted you to have the bestest birthday ever, and she asked if we could help her out and surprise you with your present early, would that be okay?” I ask, and he claps excitedly squealing yes over and over.

“Okay, grab that candy skewer and give this balloon a pop. Inside is your special birthday surprise.”

I hold the balloon over the table, and Chester stabs it really hard. The balloon bursts and glitter sprinkles everywhere as the tickets uncurl and fall onto the table in front of him.

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